The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a concern raised about the welfare of a child. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss B, complains that the Council was at fault in its response to a concern raised about her child.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss B complains about the Council’s response to a concern raised about her child’s welfare. She says the Council gave her false information, made false accusations and threatened her with legal action is she did not comply with a request to attend hospital at short notice. She says the Council’s action has left her anxious and humiliated.
We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because there is no indication of fault on the Council’s part. Where a concern is raised about a child’s welfare, the Council is obliged to respond. The Council’s response to Miss B’s complaint sets out the steps it took and there is no evidence of fault in what it did. Its position changed in the course of its engagement with Miss B, but this is to be expected as the facts are established and is not evidence of fault.
The Council does not accept that it threatened Miss B with legal action and we cannot make a safe finding on this issue. There are no grounds for us to intervene.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman